I just bought SMSL SP200 Amp (finally THX AAA that can be easily bought in Europe), and now I’m looking for a DAC for it. Right now I consider those 4:
Topping D50 (200€)
JDS Labs EL DAC (330€)
SMSL M300 (250€)
SMSL SU-8 (210€)
Is there any difference between them, or not much? Or should I look for something else?
i wouldnt get the m300 over the SU-8. Zeos came out with a review comparing the 2 and he said they sounded the same and the SU-8 had more options with a remote.
From what i heard the EL DAC is the best of the bunch but not by much. Also SMSL is coming out with a DAC that stacks with the SP200. So you might want to wait
Yeah the su-8 is very good for the price, and something I would recommend
I’m gonna wait to see if they drop a decent dac to match and if its shit I’ll wait for the predecessor to the su8
I just paired mine with a topping d50s. Love it. Had a El Dac previously. Nice dac but you need to use optical or the thing makes random popping noises on usb. At least mine has since new. Seems common too.
You sure it wasn’t a driver issue or faulty usb cable?
100000000000% its a known issue, plus i went through 4 cables and any of my other dacs were fine. Just that pile of beautiful shit. Also measures much better on spdif.
yeah but how do you connect your spdif to a computer?
Most desktop computers should have a spdif out. Or at least every motherboard i have used in the past 8 years have had it.
oh, i use a laptop
20 character limit
Some laptops actually have a digital audio out and you just need a mini toslink connector to get optical on some laptops
what does the digital audio out look like?
It might be your headphone jack but it could say something on there to indicate it. I would look up your laptop to see if it has a spdif out before buying anything lol
I went with Topping since it’s cheaper, and it’s basically the same as SU-8 from what I’ve read (and I don’t need remote).
The DAC from SMSL for SP200 is supposedly coming out early next year, but I can’t wait that long. If it turns out to be better then Topping, I can always sell D50 later.
throw in the ifi Zen Dac
I have D50s paired with SP200. Sounds great. It has a remote volume control, which is useful with sp200 since it only has 2 gain settings. You can just lower the volume on DAC when listening to more efficient headphones. It gives you more room on the volume knob before it gets too loud. Didn’t notice any popping noises while connected to USB, but can be just my unit. Also it has Bluetooth, which comes in handy more often than I’d like to admit
Recommend D50s or su-8
2012 15"MacBook pro has an optical out hidden in the headphone jack. Took me a while to find that out.
Yeah, can be pretty sneaky lol
Just finished the most recent piece to my setup-
Custom cable (periapt inspired) 80euros git me enough material to build out 4 or 5 different cables. Had nice solder set up to start.
The rest is a budget mid-fi setup
SP200 THX
Grace Balanced Dac
(Started with schiit full 2)
Current cans are (weak link)
Phillips Ph9500’s
Marshall Major III
Have on order
Mk 3 Argons
Pandas
Linsoul Helios
